Jeff Gordon, a former Hendrick teammate and four-time Cup champion who retired after last season, will replace Earnhardt in the No. 88 Chevy in Sunday’s Brickyard 400 at Indianapolis Motor Speedway and next week’s race at Pocono (Pa.) Speedway. Gordon will get one more shot to win in Indianapolis this weekend when he replaces Earnhardt Jr.in the No. 88 vehicle.
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While no one is happy about seeing Dale Jr. sit out, fans will no doubt be excited for Gordon’s temporary return as he’s a longtime fan favorite. This is the same Gordon who has led 15 percent of every lap he’s turned at IMS, 500 total, and posted top-fives in 14 of his 22 starts.
NASCAR confirmed today that Earnhardt would be out for at least two more weeks due to ongoing issues with balance and nausea, which he described in detail on Dirty Mo Radio’s The Dale Jr. Gordon, who grew up in nearby Pittsboro, retired from full-time NASCAR Sprint Cup competition at the end of the 2015 season.
Not having Earnhardt in Sunday’s starting lineup also will be odd. “His willingness to fill in for Dale Jr. shows the loyalty, commitment and friendship he has with (team owner) Rick Hendrick”.
Earnhardt now sits right above the cut line to make the Chase. It’s going to be an emotional weekend (at Indianapolis) with Dale not being there and seeing Jeff back behind the wheel. He will drive the No. 88 vehicle.
Consider: NASCAR reduced the size of the front-end splitter, the rear spoiler and the deck fin that attaches to it. While those might be simple, there are other aero changes underneath the vehicle and with the body that could render Gordon’s ’14 victor unworkable for Sunday’s race.
“Dale is special to me, take the driving part away”, Hendrick said. He missed two races during the 2012 Chase because of a pair of concussions suffered in a six-race stretch, and sitting out those events immediately ended any title shot.
“I put my health and quality of life as a top priority”, he said.
Earnhardt was evaluated Tuesday at the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center Sports Medicine Concussion Program after missing last weekend’s New Hampshire 301, according to a team release.
“I’ll continue to work with my doctors to continue to understand about the injury and how to treat it. They can give me a lot of exercises that retrain my brain to handle what I need to handle”.
The rules didn’t allow racers to be hurt, sitting out a week would be catastrophic in the point standings, and, ultimately, the payout.
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“I think this is a pretty unique situation we’re going to experience this week”.
